Cities
Quiet European Cities For Curious Travelers
Ghent has 350,000 people, three medieval towers, a 12th-century castle in the city centre (the Gravensteen, climbable), and almost no English-language stag parties — because Bruges (45 minutes by train) absorbs them. Ghent is what Bruges was thirty years ago, and the inhabitants are quietly grateful that travel writers keep recommending Bruges.
These eight cities are European, between 200,000 and 700,000 people, and have more bookshops than Irish pubs. They are not undiscovered — they are simply not over-discovered.
Each entry: the bookshop, the café, the cathedral, the dinner.
Late afternoon light, looking east. Photo by our regional correspondent.
Why This Place Matters
Ghent, Belgium — university town with the medieval Gravensteen castle, the Van Eyck altarpiece in St Bavo's Cathedral, and the only Saint-Pierre Abbey in Europe still actively brewing Belgian abbey ale on-site.
Aarhus, Denmark — Denmark's second city, with the ARoS art museum and its Olafur Eliasson 'Your Rainbow Panorama' rooftop walk, the world's largest reconstructed Viking-Age longhouse, and four bookshops per 10,000 residents.
Trieste, Italy — port city on the Slovenian border with Habsburg architecture and the coffee tradition that gave Illy and Hausbrandt to the world.
A Short History
Trieste was the Austro-Hungarian Empire's only seaport from 1382 to 1918, attracting Greek, Serb, Jewish, and Slovenian merchants. James Joyce taught English here for 11 years; the Jewish writer Italo Svevo was his student.
Ghent led the 14th-century Flemish cloth trade and revolted against Charles V in 1539 — losing the rebellion. As punishment, Charles forced citizens to wear nooses around their necks in penance; today the 'Stroppen' nickname is a point of civic pride.
Aarhus has a Viking-Age longhouse reconstructed full-size (47 m long) at the Moesgaard Museum, with thatched roof, central hearth, and seasonal historical re-enactors who actually live there in summer.
What You Will Actually See
Ghent, Belgium — Van Eyck's Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (Sint-Baafskathedraal), the Gravensteen, the Werregarenstraat graffiti alley, dinner at Patyntje on the Coupure canal.
Aarhus, Denmark — ARoS museum with the rainbow walk, Den Gamle By (open-air museum of 75 reconstructed Danish buildings), Streetfood market at Aarhus Central Food Markets.
Trieste, Italy — Caffè San Marco (1914), Antico Caffè Tommaseo (1830, where Italo Svevo wrote La Coscienza di Zeno), Risiera di San Sabba (Italy's only Nazi extermination camp, now a memorial), James Joyce statue on Ponte Rosso.
Maastricht, Netherlands — Boekhandel Dominicanen (bookshop in a 13th-century Gothic church), Onze-Lieve-Vrouwebasiliek, vlaai (Limburgish fruit pie) at Bisschopsmolen.
Tartu, Estonia — Tartu University founded 1632, Estonian National Museum (modern building over a former Soviet airfield), Werner Café for a strudel.
Cluj-Napoca, Romania — Mihai Eminescu literature museum, Banffy Palace, Saxon-built St Michael's Church.
Wrocław, Poland — search for the city's 350+ bronze gnome statues, visit Centennial Hall (Max Berg's 1913 reinforced-concrete masterpiece, UNESCO), eat pierogi at Pierogarnia Stary Młyn.
Coimbra, Portugal — the Joanina Library (see article on libraries), the Café Santa Cruz (1923, in a former chapel), the medieval upper town.
The kind of detail you only notice on the second visit.
Interesting Facts
A few quick notes on quiet european cities for curious travelers before the section below.
These are the details our correspondents most often get asked about by readers planning a trip.
Practical Information
Ghent — stay at 1898 The Post in a converted 1909 post office; the local museum pass (€20) covers Gravensteen, MSK, and STAM.
Aarhus — visit in winter (December–February) for the candlelit Old Town Christmas market and short days that suit museum-going.
Trieste — book a table at Caffè San Marco for Wednesday mornings when retired professors and chess-players occupy the marble tables.
Tartu — visit in October during the Tartu Literature Festival; the city becomes a 5-day reading marathon.
Interesting Facts
- Ghent's Gravensteen castle was built by Count Philip of Alsace in 1180 and is one of the few moated medieval castles still standing in a European city centre.
- Aarhus was named European Capital of Culture in 2017; the ARoS museum's rooftop rainbow walk by Olafur Eliasson is 150 m in circumference.
- Trieste was an Austro-Hungarian free port from 1719 to 1891 and the only port of the Habsburg Empire; the Hapsburg Maximilian-Joseph castle of Miramare overlooks the harbour.
- Wrocław's bronze gnome statues started as 1980s Orange Alternative anti-Communist protest symbols and now number over 350.
- Maastricht's Boekhandel Dominicanen occupies the choir and nave of a 1294 Dominican church and was named the world's most beautiful bookshop by The Guardian in 2008.
Most travellers walk straight past this corner. Stop and look up.
How To Visit
Brussels → Ghent: 30 min by IC train, €9.40.
Copenhagen → Aarhus: 3h by IC train across the Storebælt; or 45-min flight on SAS.
Venice → Trieste: 2h by Frecciabianca, €17.
Wrocław: Wizz Air from London Luton in 2h.
Final Thoughts
These are second-tier cities only by population. As travel destinations they outperform the marquee names: more time for the museums, easier dinner reservations, locals who remain friendly because they aren't sick of you yet.
Don't visit in a weekend; visit on a Tuesday. The whole point of Trieste is that the coffee houses have empty marble tables in November.
If we had to pick one: Trieste, October, three days. Mornings in San Marco, afternoons in the Risiera, evenings reading Joyce in the Hotel James Joyce.
If you read this article and noticed something we got wrong, please write to us. Reader corrections shape what we publish next.
Inara Korhonen
Regional correspondent for WIGO Trips. Writes about overlooked places and quiet histories.